Baseball falls to Charleston in extra innings

The Hofstra baseball team lost on the road to the College of Charleston Cougars 7-4 in 10 innings on Saturday, March 30. The Cougars were losing for most of the game, but Hofstra came back to tie it in the eighth before Logan McRae hit a three-run walk-off home run to end it in the 10th.

Early on, starting Hofstra pitcher Ryan Rue got out of two jams as he kept the Cougars scoreless in situations with a runner on third with one out in the first and a runner on second with no outs.

Hofstra got on the board in the fourth after an error by shortstop Luke Manzo allowed Vito Friscia to cross home plate and put Hofstra up 1-0. Shortly after, Vinnie Costello scored on a wild pitch by Steven Cook to make it 2-0 before Matt Siedem flied out to end the inning.

In the fifth inning, Hofstra tacked on two more runs in their next turn at bat off a Rob Weissheier RBI double and Friscia’s sacrifice fly.

The Cougars finally were able to get on the board in the sixth as Clay Hunt’s sac fly drove in Chaz Davey.

Rue was taken out in the seventh inning. His final line was 6.1 innings, six hits, one earned run, two walks and five strikeouts. Jack Anderson entered the game in relief of Rue. He allowed a walk and single before Davey hit a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 4-2.

In the eighth, Hofstra had the chance to score insurance runs after Friscia led off with a double, but after a Costello sacrifice bunt and a Austin Gauthier flyout, Siedem struck out. The Pride entered the bottom of the inning maintaining a two-run lead, which soon deteriorated as Andrew Mundy came in for the Pride in the bottom of the eighth.

Charleston’s Hunt and Harrison Hawkins led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Then, to erase the lead, Manzo and Dupree Hart both hit sac flies later in the inning and tied the game with runs by Hunt and Bradley Dixon. The Pride went down on a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth before the Cougars went scoreless in the bottom frame.

Hofstra had a chance to take the lead after Weissheier led off with a double and moved to third on a Ryan Morash groundout, but Nathan Ocker relieved Josh Price and retired Costello and Gauthier.

 In the bottom of the ninth, Dixon led off for the Cougars with a walk and then stole second. Mundy then intentionally walked Hart with a base open before McRae hit a three-run walk-off home run to give the Cougars the win and hand Hofstra its sixth straight loss.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletic